Overgrown Goldfish – Carp
My last qualified fish before I became unqualified for the Mixed-Bag tourney was a Carp. Some people apparently get ‘fever’ from this.
While I am not one in on the ‘Carp-Craze’- I was intrigued at the gold color and symmetry of its scales. For the record, and not to be a total hater- the fish did fight well and put a big bend in the rod. But in the end I still think Carp are ugly fish. For those of you who don’t. I’ve made the featured photo above. I made it with my iPad on Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and you can use it as a wallpaper/background for the electronic device of your choosing; for free!
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
D-Day plus 141 (D+141)
Confirmation Carp- tango (target) down!
There you have it folks, the bottom line is up front. Memorial Day 2012 the hex of the golden ghost MIA on my Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag campaign was broken.
Fishing began late in the weekend on Sunday afternoon due to other previous engagements. Being somewhat in the area, I first made way to the Frio River at and below Garner State Park thru to Concan, Tx. Two words- epic fail. Being the Memorial Day weekend with river-goers out in force, every point of access along the Frio River was maxed out to capacity and then some. Such to the extent that I could only assume there was no solace to be found even places in between. So, I moved on.
This brought me to the far eligible areas of the Mixed Bag tourney on the Nueces River. As fate and the Texas heat would have it, this too was no-go as well. Starting in Uvalde, Tx I found the Nueces to be all dried up with hardly a spits worth of dual-hydrogenated mono-oxygen to be found. Greatly depressed I moved up river with higher hopes and less expectations.
With slowly diminishing day light I pressed up north checking each access point for a possible throw in as the flow trickled in. These points too held cooler-laden, lawn chair-toting, folks as well- but to a much lesser degree. Finally, I found an unassuming point which was very hidden away that I was able to put in at. A resident/swimmer in the area making the beer run from the near by pool to her truck cooler noticed me rigging up. The conversation was short and she feinted kindness. I was greeted, questioned where I was from, how I found the spot, and friendly reminded to have my fishing license close on hand. Apparently, the local game warden “Javie” in the area was quick to ask and check for licenses. Oh, and I was advised to stay off the banks- the “other neighbors” were quick to ask people to step off their property as well.
Undeterred, I raced into the cool clear water. Being used to the stained Colorado River, and more recently the equally stained Guadalupe, I was astonished at the swimming pool clarity. Kindly greeting and passing by the resident’s flock of companions I pushed up river. When I hit the first bend in the Nueces is where I bumped in to fish. The first was a good-sized Redbreast sunfish, who true to form, fought like a bass thrice his size.
Next in contact was an equally sized slab of Rio Grande Perch. I am always amazed by the beauty of thier markings. They never cease to cause my head to cant and release smile. Shortly thereafter I was near assaulted by some freaky-sized, top-water, wolf spider-looking arachnid. Shrieked like a girl. Then, I shrieked like a girl again when escaping the man-eating spider coming within a foot of a man-eating snake. Fortunately, no one was around to pull my man card and you have to accept/believe me when I say they both had fierce fangs and ugly scowls.
With the impending end-of-evening nautical twilight upon me I headed back in. While fishing the Nueces and scouting the Frio rivers was fun- I did have a hit list I had to get to; and I knew exactly where my target was. So, I packed up and took the longest possible country road route to the Pedernales Falls State Park. The Pedernales River is where I would find my tango gathered in mass. With the drive weighing in on me I settled in a half hour shy at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park. Not planning on camping until the moment, I made due to sleep in my vehicle. As you can imagine the slumber was not the best but I made due- sacrifices had to be made. Before I knew it I was back up and racing to beat the sun rise to assault the water.
Because we know where it goes from here I’ll try keep it short. For a solid 3 hours no carp cared for what I cast. Giving up all my carp targeting flies I tied on old faithful; Dave’s Flying Cat. The flying cat has been my go-to fly for this entire tourney. This time it did not disappoint either. I had basically given up on carp and started aiming for drum. I pushed off from the carp sanctuary pool I had been swatting the surface at and moved further down the Pedernales River. Then across the bank I saw a shadow. I cast to it swiftly. In a blur whatever the flying cat had landed behind turned and simply took the offering.
Fellow fly anglers say their precious carp are intelligent, or instinctivvely intelligent. I say they are dumb trash fish who spook at the sign of anything; rain drop, fly on the water, anything. Call me a hater sure- but they do put up a good fight. This one took several good runs that made me put him on the reel. I was worried he’s break the 4x leader I had on line. But at the end of the day, I won. See how he turns his head in shame?
Recap, three Texas Hill Country rivers, two days, one carp. Winning.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
OD Damsel DP
New fly boxes demand new flies. Not by merit of the box being new- but in the likely scenario that it’s a larger fly box and there’s more space for more flies. So let the fly tying begin!
In stalking Redhorse and Carp for the Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag Tourney– I’ve learned to tie a new fly for my casting arsenal.
Disclaimer- sharpshooters be warned; I suck at tying flies and as with many things in life I learn misguided. Or in cases of less failure- by the numbers, crawl, walk, run.
The intent here is to tie a fly both a Carp and a Redhorse are willing to take; dual purpose. For the clever- you now understand this jacked up hybrid fly’s nomenclature: OD Damsel-DP.
To be clear, I am a fan of neither Carp or Redhorse suckers. However, i personally believe fly tying adds a new dynamic to the full enjoyment of fly fishing. So if and when I catch a Carp or Redhorse on one of my own self tied flies- I’ll be proud I caught it on a OD Damsel-DP; size 16.
See you on the high ground,
AirboneAngler
Deadman’s Cast with @TimFishmanEmery
Anglers attttttennnntion! Take your seats folks and welcome to another Deadman’s Cast interview. This week we are excited to have Fishing Pro Tim Emery, twitter handle @TimFishmanEmery, on the grill this week. Settle in as we fish filet Fishman into a fish taco- peeking into the ‘what if’ scenario if today he cast his last cast.
AirborneAngler (AA): Tim, welcome, thank you for agreeing to meet up with the troopers on AirborneAngler and surprise- you’re dead!
TimFishmanEmery (TE): O Shit’ that was fast! I was just staring at the water and now I am dead?
AA: Yup, happens that easy around here. So, we haven’t decided how to polish you off just yet. I want to get a feel for the kind of angler you are. But I will let you decide on the body of water you get waxed at. So, where are you on your final day on the water?
TE: I have known this for years! I am driving down a river looking for rising fish. Not sure which river, more then likely the Eagle River near Vail, CO. All of the sudden I see a rise and veer off the road. Bye, Bye!
AA: That’s a possibility. But maybe knowing how, when, and where you picked up fly fishing can help us determine your fate. Tell us all how you got into chunking mock-up variants of fish food.
TE: Vail, 1995- I met a guy who’s good friend was a fly fisherman. He was a fly fisherman. I spent the summer chasing them around. Didn’t catch my first fish until October that year. Man I thought these guys were great fisherman, turns out they didn’t really know what they were doing. I spent the next winter teaching my self how to fly fish. The next spring I met a guy who owned a fly guide service, I told him I could fish. (I was a ski teacher at the time) he figured I knew what I was talking about. Boy was he wrong, he took me to do a corporate event for training, once we were done he looked at me and said “I hired you to guide and you don’t know how to F@#king cast! I said, F@#king teach me” He did and the rest is history. 18 years later, all I want to do is fly fish anytime I can. Even when driving a car off a cliff!
AA: Sounds like you’ve already had one near death experience. But here, we won’t let any raging mad employer have the privilege. Nope this is your fault. We’re going with the veering car and rising fish. So on your decent into the drink your laser beam focus sees a rising fish go full gusto and leap from the water. What species is it specifically and why?
TE: Trout, doesn’t matter what kind. Why? Because the only other fish in the mountains are White Fish and they leave a shitty slime on you. Plus, trout love to eat flies!
AA: Still in a slow motion, almost parachute decent, do you:
a) continue drooling?
b) reach over into the passenger seat for your rod case and rig up?
c) snap out of it and start a Hail Mary or other prayer of choice?
d) ride it out and use the vehicle as a pontoon boat and fish the rest of the day down river?
TE: B and D. I can rig in 8 sec. and use the car as a boat. If there is one fish rising there must be more.
AA: I like your logic. How long do your people wait to call for and send out a search party? Who makes that phone call?
TE: My wife would make the call, she gets a call every morning and night from me, I have 2 small kids they are more important then anything to me. If I don’t call, they will be the first ones in the search party. Good to be loved!
AA: Yes, indeed. Glad to see your a family man. Well, the search party finally locates your final resting place. Your local flyshop commissions a memorial at the location. What is it of and how does the inscription read?
TE: It’s already been planned! (no really) I want a big boulder in the middle of the South Platte River in Denver. I have put a lot of time in to creating an urban fishery in Denver. I spent 5 years working with Denver Trout Unlimited to create and run The South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam! This tournament has raised over $100,000 for the river. Yes, we use Carp to bring awareness to the Trout. This was hard for Trout Unlimited to understand at first but now they are on board! By the way, have you caught Carp on the fly yet?
AA: No, I haven’t but recently the Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag tourney I’m in has me putting them in the crosshairs. Carp Slam sounds like quite an accomplishment and like you deserve a momument! That’s pretty awesome. While I can’t build you your momunment I can give you an AirborneAngler award. It reads: “Attention to orders! The department of Fly Anglers hereby hypothetically postumously awards the Airmoble Vehicular Assault award, with V device for Valor, to Tim Emery for his actions during the battle of Rising Road Trout on Eagle River. During Tim’s decent he was relentless in his actions to rig up and take the fight to the fish. Never did he surrender his reel or rod. His actions bring great credit uopn himself, the flies he flung, and the fly fishing community. Awarded the 17th Day of May 2012. Signed by my hand, AirborneAngler, Fly Angler of the Texas Hill Country.”
Tim, thanks for joining us today on Deadman’s Cast.
You can follow the Fishman before the afterlife on Facebook, Twitter at @TimFishmanEmery and/or catch his podcasts at www.FishExplorer.com. He’ll friend anyone with fish in their profle. Tim would also like to give a shout out to www.hogislandboatworks.com. He says they have a new skiff coming out that will be a great boat for sight fishing carp and other fish. Until next time- I am signing off.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Deadman’s Cast with OneBugIsFake
Welcome everyone to the first AirborneAngler series: “Deadman’s Cast” interview. The premise is simple- what if today you cast your last? My first interview is with angler and FlyStock organizer Brandon Robinson, @OneBugIsFake on the twitter.
AA (AirborneAngler): Hey Brandon, thank you for joining me today for Deadman’s Cast- your last day on the water. So, let’ s start, what is your favorite fly color and pattern?
BR (Brandon Robinson): Thanks for having me. Well, olive streamers are generally my go-to choice, but it depends on the fish. Big Guads eat small, so I fish small. Highly aggressive trout eat big, so I like to chunk articulated to them. Rainey’s Carp Tease in olive is a good search pattern though. There, we will just go with that. This was not the opening question I was expecting, seems weak. Ope, nope, I got it. I see what you did there. You’re gathering contest intel. If you are sweating it that bad, I’ll buy you a handful. Pobre niño.
AA: You’re sharp and volunteer excess information readily. We’re off to a great start. No- this is not an intel search into the Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag tourney. That implies you have intel to being with. So, a fatal wind knot loops your false cast and olive Rainey Carp Teaser straight into your eye. When you try to remove it you bleed out and die. What body of water did you die on?
BR: I wear safety glasses when fishing for that exact reason. Therefore I reject your scenario, and propose a new one. Keeping with the “Death and Fly Fishing” theme, If I knew I had a few hours left and wanted to fish: What river would I choose?
Damn, that is a tough one. It won’t be a Texas river, but I would have to say I would head for the South Toe River in Western North Carolina.
AA: Interesting. Well, while fishing the South Toe River you stub your toe are unable to walk out drowning in the water. You just die. Feeling sorry for your mishap the local fly shop erects a monument on the bank in your memory. What is it a statue of and what does the inscription say?
BR: I just die? I am not that easy to kill off, buddy. That seems like you might be projecting your own fears, Mr. Over-the-waders… Fine, I’m dead and Chris or Matt raise money to erect a monument in my memory… Due to lack of funding, they would probably just put one of those roadside wooden crosses. That would be kind of funny actually, everybody that shows up after would wonder how a car wrecked that far from the highway. I like it.
AA: Not all of your fellow anglers could make the memorial dedication but your favorite fly blogger did attend your funeral. Who was it and what did he/she say passing your eye patched corpse in closed or open casket?
BR: Now you’re just trying to get me in trouble. Doesn’t matter, my favorite bloggers don’t even know me. Wait, where did the eye-patch come from? Am I a pirate? Can I be a pirate? A kick-ass fly fishing pirate. I bet I look freaking sexy in a pair of breeches, dead sexy — get it? HA! Screw you, that was punny.
AA: Right. Well, I forgot to mention that when you stubbed your toe and fell- you still foul hooked your eye. Now it has a patch so it can be open casket. Anyways, you are a proud Air Force vet and also creator of the recent famed “FlyStock” Fly Fishing event supporting Project Healing Waters. That’s totally awesome and thank you for your service. But which branch of service would you rather have joined?
BR: I wouldn’t say FlyStock is famous, maybe next year. Thank you for your service as well. Coast Guard. Totally should have been in the brown-water navy. I’m kidding. If my Dad hadn’t of talked some sense into me, I probably would have joined the Corps. Dad made a valid point though, pick something that would provide you with a life afterwards. I chose to learn a trade and I am glad for it, no regrets. I love the Air Force and thanks to a handful of great friends, I love the Corps. I still call them all on November 10th too.
AA: That’s very patriotic of you. Well, because of your Coast Guard comment I radio St. Peter to deny you access beyond the pearly gates. He owes me for saving his bacon back in ’03 during the invasion and agrees you should be punished. Sentenced to hell you are:
a) fly fishing a skunk for eternity
b) spinner reel fishing forever
c) still fly fishing but being out classed by me
d) all of the above, or
e) other
BR: A) At least I’m fishing. B) Close, but still fishing. C) Wake up sport, you’re dreaming. D) Huh? E) Hell is a place where I catch every fish, every time; without even trying. It would be great at first, but it would lose its novelty quickly when nothing presents a challenge anymore.
AA: I can agree with that. Ok, well now you have 5 seconds to list 3 words your fellow anglers will remember you by forever, what are they?
BR: Atypical, funny, cheap. Atypical is just a nicer way of saying, “not normal” and I don’t think there is a soul that will argue that one. I like to think I am funny, at least funny enough for people to enjoy my company. Cheap, as in I didn’t always have to have the nice things.
AA: Thank you Brandon, in closing I’ve generated a final Fly Fishing Award citation for you. It reads: “Attention to orders! The Department of Fly Anglers posthumously awards the Penny-wise Atypical Humorous award to: Brandon Robinson of OneBugIsFake. Brandon has brought humor into the lives of those around him constantly displaying the fortitude to fly fish in any futile condition on to victory. Despite the number of broken fly rods at his own expense he never ceased to bring a smile. His dedication and perseverance bring great credit upon himself, the flies he flung, and the fly fishing community. Awarded this 11th Day of April, in the Great State if Texas. Signed by my hand, AirborneAngler, Fly Angler of the Texas Hill Country.”
Cue taps folks and that’s a wrap. So there you have it everyone, Deadman’s cast with Brandon Robinson. Our buddy OneBug is not gone yet but I do recommend he get some steel toed wadding boots. Keep wearing those safety glasses too. You can follow Brandon before the afterlife on Twitter at @OneBugIsFake and/or catch up with him on his blog, onebugisfake.com. Until next time- I am signing off.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
The AirborneAngler 